A Balance, Redefined

Felt fine. Cooler by the end of my run, didn't start until about 6:30pm. Just ran MM 2-9 and directly back. Avg. 7:31 HR 138

Typical Monday for me, went in thinking I would get 100 things done and fell short at 75.  I also had some fun trying to get to work as I locked myself out of my car. Don’t ask. Let’s just say it is not a good idea to have 5 things in your hands while you are trying to close the trunk of your car… I did however manage to get into work on time though.

Wasn’t sure what I was going to run today, thought anywhere between 5-8. On my last loop around SH I ran into James again, so I tacked on an extra loop with him and took a slightly longer way home so I ended up with the 8 miles. Trying to talk him into joining the lab. He sounds slightly interested.

I felt fine during the run. I have to remind myself to be patient. I felt so good last week with the 80 that I keep thinking let’s do it again but I’ll try and take it slow. I still have a little over three months to race day… Avg. 7:33 HR 146

Today I finally woke up at a normal time and got out of bed after waking up. This was the first time in two weeks… So, I got into work early with the plan of running at 10am. Started off the day on the wrong foot though and was pretty grumpy by the time I headed out the door at 10:45am. Dealing with accident related issues is just not fun. Then to make things more interesting the weather was having fun with me. About 0.5mi mile into it, it started snowing and was fairly windy. By the looks of the flags it was about 10-15 mph winds. My plan for the workout was to do 2-mi on 2-mi off. Between the weather and the lack of training with the accident I decided it would be best to plan to have the on miles on “easy” ground. So I did my warm-up starting from lab of two miles relaxed. Then I hit the first mile of my “on” headed downhill. I didn’t look at the Garmin the full mile, I just went by feel. I did have a crosswind with the snow blowing everywhere but not much snow had stuck on the ground yet. I hit 5:34 (descent 178ft), the second mile was more downhill but the first half mile was the hardest with a brutal headwind, the second half had a tailwind into Memory Grove 5:34 (yes the same split, descent 211ft). Then I turned up City Creek for about 2.5 miles. I then turned around and let loose, again not looking at my Garmin (except at the mile beeps). By this time there was about ¼-1/2 inch of snow on the ground and there were slippery spots but not too bad going downhill. Miles were hit at 5:21 (descent 242ft) and 5:19 (descent 179ft). To squeeze in the third repeat I just took a half mile recovery, not the best plan but I was curious to see what I could do with minimal rest after the 5:19. It truly amazes me that Paul, Sean, and Logan kept that pace and faster to qualify! That first mile for my final on session is the one up towards the fire station from overlooking City Creek. The uphill was not the problem, it was the snow. By then it had drifted to about 1in in spots and the traffic had made sure to make it nice and slippery, 6:46 (Ascent 206ft). The final on mile was a little better as on the descents the slipperiness isn’t as bad 5:47 (descent 233ft). The last repeats obviously slower but tougher miles, more weather, and very little rest so I was happy with it. Overall, I felt GREAT! It was nice to get out and get some good leg turnover. I finished off a mile cooldown and called it quits. Not sure why I wrote so much today, curious to see if anyone will comment and just nice to do a workout again and have something to write about rather than I ran 10-miles again today and kept the same pace yeah… Avg. 7:00 HR 165

A good run after a long day in lab (~12hrs). I’ve continued to have problems focusing and it just makes things take so much longer. For the run I met up with James at SH and we ran SE of the park, random streets and back. My legs felt very good considering the tougher workout yesterday. I’m happy with my progress at this time. I ended up with 9mi, was only planning on 8 but I can live with it… Avg. 7:49 HR 140

I forgot the best part of the run. I checked the weather on the way out the door and it had the windchill as 1F and at the end -4F. Let’s hear it for winter!!!

Legs are a little tighter today, left glut and right knee. This is perfectly expected though and nothing too serious. Ran to City Creek, down to Memory Grove, up the stairs to the capital building, then down Gravity Hill and back to lab. Got up early despite a bad night of sleep. In work by ~6am out the door  a little after noon. The weather was warmer, 10F windchill. I actually had to stop and strip a layer. Avg. 7:25 HR 152

I was getting a little ahead of myself on mileage this week and with the slight twinges yesterday I decided for a day off. So I just ran three treadmill miles (8:00 pace) right out of bed and did some stretching situps pushups etc. Feels good. Now on to work and hopefully a relaxing weekend...

First of all congrats to all those who raced the Painter’s ½ today. A great showing by many bloggers especially Logan!

Got up early, planned on running at 5:30, didn’t get out the door until closer to 6:30… I did a course run today. Headed straight to MM7 (1.75 mi from my door). My plan was to keep it very easy and run out to a little past the 14 mile mark. On the way out I kept to plan and only pushed Mile 14 as it was my first time on that stretch and it was a nice descent. I saw all the mile markers except 13 and 14, the last official looking one is mile 10. Then I turned around and picked it up a little but still kept the breaks on. This was my first 18-miler since before TOU. On the way out I only saw 2 other runners but on the way back I saw between 30 and 35. Overall I had a good run and my legs felt strong. By the end of the run the weather was very nice (I can’t believe I just said that for 30F but it felt great). Avg. 7:15 HR 152

The great news for the day is that my family got home!!! It had been two weeks since I’ve seen them and 4 wks since they’ve been in UT. It was nice having them around the house again and watching Kaitlyn play with all her new Christmas toys.